Valérie Trierweiler wins damages from French magazine over bikini pictures

French First Lady Valérie Trierweiler on Wednesday won damages from a magazine
for putting photographs of her in a bikini on its front cover, even though
she works for a rival glossy that published the same pictures.

Valérie Trierweiler took offence to the accompanying article in VSD, which implied that she was actively looking for media exposure of the couple's holiday while claiming to want to protect their privacyPhoto: EPA/IAN LANGSDON

Miss Trierweiler, a journalist still on the payroll of Paris Match, had asked for 30,000 euros (£24,000.)

The photos had shown France's first couple relaxing on a beach close to the presidential retreat of Fort de Brégançon on the French Riviera last month. She reportedly told friends she didn't like the photos as they mad her look "fat".

French commentators described Miss Trierweiler's legal action as hypocritical given that she declined to attack her own employer, saying she felt "ill at ease" doing so. Her lawyer's argument was that Paris Match published the pictures inside the magazine, not on the front.

The ruling at the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris will fuel criticism from sections of the French press that it is inappropriate for Miss Trierweiler to keep her position as a Paris Match columnist while at the Elysée palace.

It retrained the media spotlight on the first lady, who has sought to keep a low profile after a slew of highly critical books detailing her 10-year alleged feud with Mr Hollande's ex-partner Ségolène Royal, the mother of his four children.

In La Favorite, Laurent Greilsamer, former news editor of Le Monde, said of the first lady: "You have shown yourself to be unconventional, imperial, amorous, explosive, unpredictable. And clearly dangerous."

The court action was deemed curious given that she had also previously visited the beach to work out which spots were hidden from paparazzi camera lenses and where she and the president could be seen.

VSD's lawyer had argued that publishing photos of French presidential couples at Fort de Brégançon was a "harmless tradition" and that Mr Hollande's claim to being a "normal" president meant he should respect the tradition.

Mr Hollande's predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, and his wife Carla were snapped on the same beach in their swimwear but took no legal action.

The judge ruled that it was neither "necessary for legitimate public information" nor "harmless", as Miss Trierweiler had never posed in a bikini before. She drew the line at shorts. Nor was it an illustration of Mr Hollande's "normalness".

But she justified the relatively small fine by saying Miss Trierweiler "could not be unaware of the risk of having her photo taken on the beach of the head of state's official residence, which, admittedly is not open to the public but which is visible from the sea".

Miss Trierweiler also took offence to the accompanying article in VSD, which implied that she was actively looking for media exposure of the couple's holiday while claiming to want to protect their privacy.

The judge ruled there was nothing wrong with this as it was the "journalist's opinion".

Frédérique Giffard, Miss Trierweiler's lawyer, said she would give her award to campaign group Reporters Without Borders.

VSD editor Philippe Labi said the magazine was considering an appeal, adding: "It's quite surprising to be attacked for such ordinary pictures."